Diller Dead Wrong on Streaming

 by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 23, 2021

 

Are all other streaming services, including Disney+, destined to play second fiddle to Netflix … forever? That’s what media mogul Barry Diller told CNBC late last week. 

 

Diller, of course, is dead wrong. In free enterprise, maintaining one’s market position is not destiny – indeed, anything but. And that reality is only intensified and accelerated in an era of great technological advancements.

Diller’s long career and success in the television and media business naturally give him credibility to have his views tapped by CNBC and others. He told CNBC, “Netflix won this several years ago, they’re the only ones who have the scale and momentum to keep making these somewhat lunatic investments in programming. You cannot compete with the momentum, the scale, no one will ever be able to do that.”

 

That’s right, Diller asserted that “no one will ever be able” to compete with Netflix.

 

The CNBC Diller appearance came on the heels of the announcement by AT&T that it would be combining its content arm, WarnerMedia, with Discovery, to create a new company. 

 

That obviously strengthens the HBO Max streaming service. And then there’s Disney+, which even with a recent slowdown has gained subscribers at a far faster rate than originally expected, along with Amazon Prime, Comcast’s Peacock, ViacomCBS’s Paramount+, YouTube, and more.

 

Netflix gained a major competitive advantage by being the early or first mover on streaming. But the notion that they have so much revenue, scale and momentum that they do not face serious competition is absurd. The history of free enterprise is littered with early movers who gave way to other businesses that improved on quality, service, innovation, et al.

 

If Netflix continues to produce quality content in an appealing and convenient way for consumers, then it very well may remain the streaming leader for some time. But if other giants, such as Disney and Amazon, do things better, then Netflix could easily slip behind others. And then there’s the fact that the ongoing revolution in computer and telecommunications technologies will serve as fuel or as an opportunity for the next great company or product to challenge Netflix, Disney, Amazon and others already established in the market, or challenge the entire streaming model itself.

 

The fact is that no one – including Barry Diller – has a crystal ball in terms of where entrepreneurship, invention and innovation will take industries and consumers. That’s good news for entrepreneurs, for creators, for nimble companies and workers, and for consumers – but perhaps not so much for those who might have thrived earlier but lack vision when it comes to the future.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating has two new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And pre-order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story.

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

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